Last night with Susan

I can never entirely get my fill of Susan Werner. She pops into Central Iowa for a few hours every now and again, but never stays long enough.

Last night, she made a brief appearance at Music Under the Canopy’s Singer Songwriter Music Festival. Sandwiched between Bejae Fleming and Greg Brown, Susan performed from about 8 o’clock until 9:15, when Brown took the stage. The crowd was sparse — “intimate” might be a nicer way to put it — but everyone clearly loved Susan.

She performed a variety of her best stuff from The Gospel Truth, Hayseed, Kicking the Beehive, and other albums. Guitarist James Biehn (from Norwalk, Iowa) accompanied Susan on most of the songs, and I must say his performance made her sound fantastic — especially given that they had just met earlier in the day.

I adore Susan Werner — I’ve seen her in concert more times than I can count, including one memorable evening at a friend’s home last fall. Her personality just shines through her music and lyrics, and she’s just so charming and funny I can’t get enough of her. Plus, she’s an amazing musician.

Here’s a cool thing I recently learned about her: She’s got a musical hitting the stage in Atlanta in September. She is the composer and lyricist for Bull Durham the Musical, playing Sept. 3-Oct. 5 at the Alliance Theatre — and if things go well there, it may be moving to Broadway.